Strukova Valeria

Today people face global problems. Their unresolved threatens the very existence of humanity. The problem of insipid drinking water has already come to the fore. People are forced to use water that does not meet hygienic requirements for drinking purposes, which poses a serious threat to their health.

A lot of attention is paid to the issues of shortage of drinking water. Man has a very negative impact on the environment. Although fresh water remains on Earth less and less, people unreasonably use it, disturbing the ecological balance, not thinking about future generations. Water pollution by industrial and agricultural waste has a detrimental effect on the environment, leading to the accumulation of heavy metals(trace elements) and toxic elements; it is dangerous for both animals and humans. Today, the consequences of the deterioration of the state of water are already expressed in a number of global, regional and local environmental problems related to the state of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and human health. The topic I have chosen is very relevant in our time.

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Western Department of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Samara Region

District competition research projects junior schoolchildren "Gulliver"

Section

Ecology

JOB TITLE

Performed:

Strukova Valeria

students of the 3rd "B" class

GBOU secondary school №10

Syzran

Work manager:

Kosterina Elena Gennadievna

primary school teacher

Syzran, 2014

Introduction

Main part

1. Water is the source of life.

Practical part

1. Survey results
2. Experiment results

Conclusion

Used resources

Application

INTRODUCTION

Relevance

Today people face global problems. Their unresolved threatens the very existence of humanity. The problem of fresh drinking water has already come to the fore. People are forced to use water that does not meet hygienic requirements for drinking purposes, which poses a serious threat to their health.

A lot of attention is paid to the issues of shortage of drinking water. Man has a very negative impact on the environment. Despite the fact that there is less and less fresh water left on Earth, people use it unwisely, upsetting the ecological balance, not thinking about future generations. Water pollution by industrial and agricultural waste has a detrimental effect on the environment, leading to the accumulation of heavy metals (trace elements) and toxic elements in them; it is dangerous for both animals and humans. Today, the consequences of the deterioration of the state of water are already expressed in a number of global, regional and local environmental problems related to the state of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and human health.The topic I have chosen is very relevant in our time.

Hypothesis:

Let's assume that the tap water is really clean.

Objective of the project:

Comparison of tap water and bottled water.

Tasks:

• Find and summarize facts known to science about water;
• Determine in accessible ways what substances are contained in the water we drink;
• Find out whether the substances contained in it bring harm or benefit to human health.

Research methods:

• study of theoretical sources;
• questioning;
• observation;
• analysis of experimental material;
• comparison;
• generalization.

Object of study:

Tap water and bottled water

Subject of study:

The composition of water.

MAIN PART

1. Water is the source of life.

“We cannot say that water is necessary for life:

She is life."

So said Saint-Exupery

about this liquid that we use,

without much thought.

Since ancient times, man has treated water as one of the most important miracles. It was believed that the gods presented water to people.

The ancient Slavs prayed on the banks of rivers, lakes and other sources, believing that prayers would save their lands from drought and cause rain.

Water existed in the Universe in the form of ice or steam long before the formation of our planet. She settled on dust particles and pieces of cosmic particles. From the combination of these materials, the Earth was formed, and water formed an underground ocean in the very center of the planet. Volcanoes and geysers have shaped our young planet for millennia. They spewed fountains from the bowels of the Earth hot water, a large amount of steam and gases. This steam enveloped our planet like a blanket.

Another one part of the water came to us from space in the form of huge blocks of ice that werethe tail of huge comets that bombarded our young planet.

The surface of the Earth gradually cooled. The water vapor began to turn into a liquid. The rains hit our planet, filling the future oceans with seething dirty water. It took many years forthe oceans cooled, cleared and becameas we know them today:salty blue watersand cover most of the earth's surface.Therefore, the Earth is called the BLUE PLANET.

The only planet in solar system where life originated is our Earth. There are many opinions about the origin of life on Earth, but they all agree thatWater was the basis for the origin of life.

Most of the volcanoes were flooded by the waters of the first ocean. But volcanoes continued to erupt under water, supplying heated water and minerals dissolved in it from the bowels of the Earth. And there,at amazing depths, near volcanoesAccording to many scientists, and life was born.

by the most bacteria were the first living organismsand blue-green algae. They don't need sunlight to livethey existed thanks to volcanic heat and minerals dissolved in water. But how did they withstand such high temperatures emanating from volcanoes?

At present, in the depths of the ocean, as many centuries ago, there are amazing hot springs that smoke with white and black steam, they are called underwater smokers. Near them live many species of marine animals that have adapted to this environment and, of course, bacteria.

But how did the first living organisms appear?

Scientists have discovered in space a large number of molecules (these are the “bricks” of which all living and non-living things are composed) from which the first living organisms could form. On our planet, they could get along with water. Or maybe not molecules, but bacteria came to us from outer space?

They constantly surprise people with their ability to go through fire and water.

They have been found in Egyptian mummies and in the nose of a mammoth. In an oil well and the ice of Antarctica at a depth of four kilometers. They were found at a nuclear power plant in the water. All of them were alive, healthy and continued to multiply.

Or maybe life on Earth originated simultaneously in different ways? Until the end, this mystery of nature is not disclosed.

Exactly one: Earth had everything necessary for the origin of life,

only the conditions for their connection were needed. These favorable conditions for the origin of life and its development became sea ​​water. And underwater volcanoes provided heat and food.

Approximately 400 million years ago, the seas began to shallow, the bays to dry up. In their place were drying lakes and swamps. To support their bodies on land, these animals needed strong limbs and a strong spine.

But as a memory of the place where life originated, the embryos of animals, birds and humans retained signs of a fish embryo.After all, we have a common cradle of the origin of life- ocean . Nature took care that we do not forget about it. And the Earth has preserved for us samples of plants and animals living in those distant times. She wrote her story with bone and leaf prints, shells, sand and silt.

Since ancient times, people settled along the banks of rivers. The river watered, fed, washed. On the rivers you can swim to the sea, get to other countries. Villages along the rivers turned into cities.

To ancient Rome canals stretched from the distant hills, where cold springs gushed from the ground. High stone arches held them up. Clean water dispersed to houses, fountains, to Roman baths, and dirty water left through underground channels.

In Babylon, high above the earth, lush gardens grew. This beauty seemed a miracle under the hot sun. Only here the main miracle was water. She diverged through the channels to each tree.

The work that people found in the water became more and more tricky. The whole world warmed tea in teapots, and as soon as the water boiled, the lid began to jump. But what if you heat a lot of water and make the steam do useful work? After all, it is the steam that lifts the lid. This is how steam engines were born. Now it was water in the form of steam that moved steamboats and steam locomotives. She forced machines to work in plants and factories.

Steam engines were replaced by electric ones. But electricity helps us get water too. To do this, people built on big rivers hydroelectric power plants.

From ancient times to this day, every second, water works for the benefit of man.

1. Water is the cause of global disasters.

Rain on time is always good. The same can't be said for heavy rains. Floods caused by heavy rains are an eternal disaster that haunts people.

Storm waves - tsunamis - bring people the most trouble.

Natural disasters are emergencies that are almost impossible to avoid, as they are often caused by uncontrollable natural phenomena. However, timely forecasting can save lives and not lead to global losses.

Water disasters are doubly dangerous. A flood is terrible in its scale, which harms people's health, leads to death and causes material damage.

According to the causes of occurrence, the following types of floods are distinguished:

High water is a phenomenon of a systematically repeated rise in the water level in rivers, lakes, and seas. The cause of floods can be heavy rainfall, melting snow;

A flood is a short-term, but intense and sharp rise in water in rivers;

Clogging of the river bed as a result of heaps of ice floes can lead to congestion or blockage (if the ice is loose);

Wind surge of large quantities of water occurs as a result of rising water levels on sea coasts;

Water spills can occur as a result of an emergency discharge of water from reservoirs and in the event of a breakthrough of hydraulic structures in the form of dams and dams.

History knows floods of various kinds. A terrible flood occurred in 1278 in the Netherlands, when hundreds of settlements were under water. In 1887 in China, the overflow of the Yellow River carried away more than 1 million people, and in 1931 in China, a flood flooded 4 million houses! In 1889, as a result heavy rains Near American city Johnstone broke through the dam, the flow of water rushed at a speed of 60 km / h and destroyed more than 10,000 buildings.

PRACTICAL PART

1. Environmental problem of clean water

Reserves of clean fresh water are rapidly declining as a result of global pollution of the hydrosphere with wastewater containing toxic components.

Hundreds of enterprises emit harmful substances into the atmosphere and water bodies, as a result of which animals and plants die, and water bodies are polluted.

Domestic sewage, industrial and agricultural wastewater pollute rivers and worsen water supply conditions.

The scale of pollution and depletion of water resources is now rampant. Calculations of ecologists have shown that while maintaining such rates of fresh water consumption by 2100, humanity may be left without water!

It is designed to draw public attention to the state of water bodies, to think about the role of water in the life of every person on Earth; draw attention to the problems of lack of drinking water.

By drinking poor-quality water, a person cannot be healthy. Everyone should be able to assess the quality of drinking water.

1. Survey results

I was interested to know what other children think about the water that flows from the tap. I completed and completed the questionnaire. (Attachment 1)

35 children participated in the survey.

From the results of the questionnaire, I learned that the opinion of classmates does not coincide with my hypothesis that the water in the tap is clean.

Thus, most of the students surveyed understand the problem of drinking water quality and take care of their health by purifying water in accessible ways, but the health of a student who regularly uses tap water raises concerns.

1. Experiment results

Comparison of the quality of tap and bottled water.

(Annex 2)

1. Determination of water transparency.

(pouring water into a glass, she looked to see if the printed text was visible)

Tap and bottled water allow you to read the text at the maximum mark.

Conclusion: both samples are transparent.

1. Determination of the intensity of the smell of water.

Conclusion: According to the table of odor intensity, we got the results: tap water - 1 point, bottled - 0 points.

1. Determination of water hardness.

What is hard water

Hardness is a property of water due to the presence of

soluble calcium and magnesium salts. The degree of hardness depends

from the presence of calcium and magnesium salts (hardness salts) in water and is measured in milligrams - the equivalent per liter (mg-eq / l). According to GOST standards, water - more than 7 mg - eq. l - it is considered to be rigid. Rigidity can create problems. When taking a bath, washing dishes, washing, cooking, hard water is much less effective than soft water.

Ca and Mg cations interact with anions, forming compounds (hardness salts) capable of precipitating. (Ca 2+ interacts with HCO 3-, Mg 2+ with SO 42.

It turns out that the harder the water, the worse it affects the body. 1. Water hardness adversely affects the skin, causing its premature aging. When hardness salts interact with detergents, precipitation occurs in the form of foam, which, after drying, remains in the form of a microscopic crust on human skin and hair. The main negative impact of these precipitations on humans is that they destroy the natural fatty film (protecting the skin from aging and adverse climatic influences), which is always covered with normal skin.

Because of this, pores are clogged, dryness, peeling, dandruff appear.

The skin not only ages early, but becomes allergic and sensitive to irritations. 2. High rigidity has a negative effect on the digestive organs. Hardness salts, combining with animal proteins found in our food, settle on the walls of the esophagus, stomach, intestines, interfering with peristalsis, causing dysbacteriosis, disrupting enzymes and poisoning the body.

Constant ingestion of water with increased hardness leads to a decrease in gastric motility, to the accumulation of salts in the body. 3. Most of all, the cardiovascular system suffers from water overflowing with calcium and magnesium ions. (Ca controls the rhythm of the heart, is necessary for contraction and relaxation, including the heart muscle) 4. Constant ingestion of water with increased hardness leads to joint disease (arthritis, polyarthritis). In the human body, seven main types of bone connection can be distinguished, providing varying degrees of their mobility. Between the connected elements is a transparent yellow fluid, called synovial in medicine. It plays the role of a lubricant, allowing the bones to easily rotate relative to each other at the junction. If, instead of such a liquid, there are inorganic minerals that came from drinking water, and poisonous crystals, then each such movement will be given to a person with difficulty, causing pain. 5. There is an opinion that water hardness leads to the formation of stones in the kidneys and biliary tract. An interesting fact is that kidney stones are formed due to a lack of calcium in food. scientific experiments prove that stones are not formed from calcium absorbed from food. Experiments have been carried out using radioactive labels on calcium in food. When the kidney stones and spurs were later examined, they did not contain a single piece of radioactive calcium. Thus, it has been proven that 100% of kidney stones and bone spurs are built from calcium leached from the bones to neutralize the acidity of body fluids. On the other hand, Mg is an antagonist of Ca in metabolic processes. With an excess of Mg, Ca excretion from the body increases, that is, Mg begins to displace Ca from tissues and bones, which leads to disruption of normal bone formation.

To determine the hardness of water, a soapy solution was prepared and heated. Shake the test tube. We are watching. We continued to pour the soap solution in portions, shaking the contents of the tube each time.

As a result of the research, it was revealed that soap does not foam well in tap water, a white precipitate has formed, but there is no such precipitate in bottled water, and the soap foams well.

Conclusion: Tap water is hard

Hard water has a negative impact on human health (based on the literature studied). Rigidity can have a negative effect on the balance of minerals in the human body, having a negative effect on the digestive organs. It negatively affects the joints.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the study do not support the initial hypothesis that tap water is indeed pure. We all use tap water and need to know what it contains. More detailed monitoring of the quality of drinking water is needed.

There is nothing more precious in the world than ordinary pure water.

Without it, there is no and cannot be life. Water must be conserved. This should be understood and remembered by everyone, no matter what path he charts for himself in the future.

Before it's too late, we need to do everything necessary to save water bodies and save our blue planet, and that means ourselves.

List of information sources used

1. http://nowa.cc/showthread.php?p=3834400
2. http://www.rodnik35.ru/index.php?id=rodniki
3. http://club.itdrom.com/gallery/gal_photo/scenery/421.html
4. http://www.nnews.nnov.ru/news/2006/04/28/
5. http://newsreaders.ru/showthread.php?t=2572
6. http://altai-photo.ru/publ/istorija_altaja/15-2-11
7. http://fabulae.ru/prose_b.php?id=11476

8. ATTACHMENT 1

   Questionnaire

   ____________________________________________________

   ____________________________________________________

   ____________________________________________________

   ____________________________________________________

   Questionnaire

   1. Do you think the tap water is clean?

   ____________________________________________________

   1. Do you drink tap water?

   ____________________________________________________

   1. Does the quality of drinking water affect our health?

   ____________________________________________________

   1. Should water be filtered?

   ____________________________________________________

   1. Is it possible to purify water from harmful substances by boiling?

   ____________________________________________________

   Questionnaire

   1. Do you think the tap water is clean?

   ____________________________________________________

   1. Do you drink tap water?

   ____________________________________________________

   1. Does the quality of drinking water affect our health?

   ____________________________________________________

   1. Should water be filtered?

   ____________________________________________________

   1. Is it possible to purify water from harmful substances by boiling?

   ____________________________________________________

   APPENDIX 2

   It is known that the amount of water in nature is practically unchanged. The problem is that the planet's supply of clean drinking water is constantly declining. And this happens with an increasing volume of water consumption.

   For industrial use, agriculture and life suitable mostly fresh water.

   The main sources of fresh (drinking) water - rivers and fresh lakes - are extremely unevenly distributed on the continents. In Europe and Asia, where 70% of the population lives, only 39% of the world's river water reserves are concentrated. In Europe, where almost 20% of the world's population lives, fresh water supplies account for only 7% of the world's total water supply.

   There are areas on the planet where there is a catastrophic lack of clean drinking water. So, in one of the African tribes, women rake wet sand for days on end, scooping brown liquid with spoons. Only one or two liters are gained per day (a film was made about this).

   On the islands of the South Seas, you can only count on rainwater and coconut milk to quench your thirst. Often, children are not allowed to play outdoor games, because this makes the child sweat and he wants to drink more.

   For a long historical period in regions with natural reserves of clean fresh water, a person fully satisfied his needs for fresh water, without feeling a lack of it. However, due to the intensive growth of the population and its industrial activities, the need for water has steadily increased. At present, it has reached such proportions that in many places on the planet, and especially in developed industrial areas, there is an acute problem of lack of fresh water.

   The lack of fresh water is already noted in many countries of the world, it is experienced by 1/3 of the world's population. Thus, Hong Kong, with a population of about 4 million people, receives water through a special pipeline from China. Additionally, it is delivered by tankers. Chronic "water hunger" is experiencing Tokyo. Imported water is partially provided by the state of Algeria. Clean water was transported to Saudi Arabia by plane from New Zealand. Shops in Holland and Japan sell pure water brought from Norway.

   Along with the problem of scarcity of fresh water in many regions of the world, there is an acute problem of clean fresh water. There are reports that 1.5 billion people do not have clean water. According to WHO data, almost 3 billion inhabitants of the planet use poor-quality drinking water. For this reason, about 25% of the world's population is at risk of falling ill every year, approximately one in ten inhabitants of the planet is ill, about 4 million children and 18 million adults die. Approximately 80% of all diseases in developing countries due to lack of clean water. In addition, water is an invaluable raw material that cannot be replaced by another.

   
   
   

   Given all the above reasons, the problem of water supply has become one of the most important in the life and development of human society.

   The reasons for the lack of fresh water in the world are as follows: an intensive increase in water demand due to the growth of the world's population and the development of economic activities that require huge expenditures of water resources; losses of fresh water due to the reduction of river flow and other reasons; pollution of reservoirs by sewage.

   Losses of fresh water due to the reduction of river flow are mainly due to deforestation, plowing of meadows, drainage of floodplain swamps, etc. This leads, firstly, to an increase in surface runoff and an increase in the volume of water flowing into the seas, and, secondly, to a decrease in the level of groundwater that feeds rivers and maintains their water content. Losses of fresh water in many countries of the world reduce groundwater resources.

   To designate this phenomenon, there is a concept - depletion of water.

   Water depletion- reduction of the minimum allowable flow surface water or reduction of groundwater resources. The minimum allowable runoff is the runoff at which the ecological well-being of the water body and the conditions for water use are ensured.
   In addition, large losses of fresh water occur as a result of:

   filtration of water through the walls of channels;

   · violations of the integrity (gusts) of main water conduits supplying water to settlements from water supply sources, and pipes of the water supply network, through which water is diluted through the territory of settlements;

   · irrational leakage of water in residential and public buildings as a result of faulty water taps and spillway sewer devices.

   The world is to be expected further increase consumption of fresh water for various needs of human society.

   The shortage of clean fresh water is also due to pollution of natural waters.

   Water pollution- introduction into water (water bodies) or formation (synthesis, reproduction, etc.) in it of physical, chemical or biological agents that adversely affect the living environment or damage material values. Pollution of water bodies usually occurs as a result of the discharge of sewage into them.

   Wastewater- these are waters that were in industrial and household or agricultural use, as well as passed through some kind of contaminated territory, including the territory of a settlement (industrial, agricultural, domestic and storm drains). These are waters discharged after use in household and industrial activities of a person.

   The main harmful substances entering water bodies (surface and underground water sources) with wastewater are oil and oil products, phenol, detergent specific surfactants (surfactants), ammonia, pesticides, heavy metals, complex chemical compounds and others. Pathogens of infectious diseases can get into water sources with domestic wastewater.

   As a result, surface and ground waters become unsuitable for use in order to provide drinking water supply, domestic and industrial purposes.

   Filed by the Moscow Research Institute of Hygiene. F.F. Erisman, in Russia, iron, turbidity, total organic pollution in terms of permanganate oxidizability, phenols, manganese, surfactants and oil products, residual aluminum, formaldehyde, caprolactam, cyclohexanol are most often found in drinking water above the regulated values. In some samples of drinking water, an increased content of arsenic and lead is recorded. The presence of mercury, cadmium, molybdenum, nickel and chromium in the water of some water pipes poses a risk to public health. The appearance of these substances in water can be explained by man-made causes.

   In Russia, according to the maximum intensity and area of ​​groundwater pollution by harmful chemicals the most tense situation has developed in the areas of large industrial enterprises - in the cities of Cherepovets (phenols, chlorobenzene, butanol, toluene), Lipetsk (cyanides, thiocyanates), Tula (thiocyanates), Voronezh (surfactants, cadmium), Tolyatti (phenols, aluminum), Volgograd (phenols, molybdenum), Stavropol (cadmium, nickel), Chelyabinsk and Novorossiysk (phenols, lead, iron), Novokuznetsk (phenols, fluorides), etc.

   In Ukraine, oil products, phenol, styrene, chlorobenzene, dichloroethane, cyanides, acetone, cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, mercury compounds and other substances can enter water bodies with wastewater. At the same time, the risk of their penetration into drinking water remains.

   Concentrations of various chemical elements in drinking water depend on natural and technogenic (anthropogenic) factors. natural causes are determined by the level of natural content of elements in open water bodies, groundwater, soil and rocks, and technogenic - by the entry into the environment of chemical elements as a result of human economic activity.

   According to published data, the chemical elements whose content in drinking water is largely determined by the specific features of biogeochemical provinces include fluorine, iron, barium, titanium, zirconium, vanadium, molybdenum, lithium, strontium, and cobalt.

   Biogeochemical province- a separate area of ​​the Earth's surface, which differs from other similar areas in terms of content (excess or deficiency) and composition of chemical elements and substances found in soils, waters, plants and animals.

   The content of heavy metals (lead, copper, nickel, zinc), as well as manganese and chromium, in drinking water depends both on the geohydrochemical characteristics of the territory and on the specifics of the technogenic impact on the environment. Experts have found that if the concentrations of various metals in drinking tap water exceed the background level, this is a confirmation of their technogenic, and not natural, origin.

   Heavy metals in drinking water sources and, accordingly, in drinking water in different territories are distributed extremely unevenly. Yes, in settlements Donetsk region, lead concentrations were found in drinking water: maximum 3.6 GTDC (Shakhtersky district) and minimum 0.4 MPC (Mariupol), nickel - maximum 2.7 MPC (Starobeshevsky district) and was not detected in any water sample in six rural areas, chromium - 3.4 MPC (Pervomaisky district) and was not found in any water sample in 4 districts. The maximum concentration of manganese reached 8.6 MPC (Pervomaisky district), while in the drinking water of most cities in the region this metal is found in low concentrations and usually does not exceed the hygienic standard.

   According to American scientists, the use of pesticides in agriculture can lead to local and regional contamination of drinking water sources. The content of pesticides in the water of open reservoirs and groundwater varies greatly depending on the seasons of the year and local geological features. The highest concentrations of these substances are observed in the waters in spring and early summer after heavy rains. Pesticides are found in almost 50% of the studied groundwater samples taken in the United States.

   Total according to the US Department of Conservation environment(Environmental Protection Agency - EPA) and other US organizations, more than 160 active ingredients of pesticides are known to be carcinogens or suspected of being carcinogenic.

   Cases of extremely high pollution of drinking water with harmful substances of technogenic origin pose a significant danger to the population. This usually happens during various accidents.

   As a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which occurred on the night of April 25-26, 1986, a territory of 2712 km2 in Ukraine was dangerously affected by radiation, which is completely excluded from national economic use. The decay period of some isotopes reaches 130 years. By-product Chernobyl disaster was the contamination of water sources and, as a result, drinking water with radioactive isotopes. This led to a deficiency of pure natural iodine R disaster zone.

   Contamination of harmful substances with drinking water of centralized water supply can occur in violation of the law - in the case of connection by responsible persons of water supply networks of drinking water supply with networks supplying non-drinking water, that is, technical or industrial water supply. For example, on June 20, 1987, in the city of Kommunarsk (now the city of Alchevsk, Luhansk region), in the village of Gorky, there was a significant contamination of drinking tap water with oil products. Early in the morning, a liquid, a mixture of water and oily substances, poured from the open water taps of the inhabitants. As a result of the investigation, the fact of connecting the drinking water supply networks of the village with the circulating water supply system of the rolling section of the consumer goods shop of the metallurgical plant was established. In order to feed the process system with drinking water, the workers of this workshop directly (“without breaking the jet”) connected the drinking water conduit to the water supply unit of the reverse cycle of the cooling system for heating furnaces and rolls of rolling mills. At the same time, water from the sump, which accumulated a large amount of oil products, was used to cool these units. The identity of the oil products selected in the sump of the workshop and contained in the water of the drinking water supply system was established. On the fact of this violation of the city SES, the perpetrators were fined and the relevant material was sent to the city prosecutor's office. Normal water supply of the village was restored.

   Scientists in many countries are busy with the problems of cleaning polluted waters, desalination of sea salt water and the search for new sources of life-giving moisture. There are projects to tow Antarctic icebergs to the coast of California, Saudi Arabia and other countries.

   American specialists have made calculations according to which six tugboats can transport an iceberg weighing about 10 billion tons. Such a mountain of ice can supply fresh water large region during a year.

   INTRODUCTION

   It can perhaps be said that

   the purpose of a person

   is to

   destroy your family

   pre-made globe

   unsuitable for habitation.

   J.-B. Lamarck

   Once people were content with water, which they found in rivers, lakes, streams and wells. But with the development of industry and population growth, it became necessary to manage the water supply much more carefully in order to avoid harm to human health and damage to the environment.

   A previously inexhaustible resource - fresh clean water - is becoming exhaustible. Today, drinking water industrial production and irrigation is lacking in many parts of the world. Even now, 20,000 people die every year due to dioxin pollution of water bodies in Russia.

   The topic I have chosen is now more relevant than ever, because if not we, then our children will definitely feel the full impact of anthropogenic environmental pollution. However, if you recognize the problem in time and follow the ways to solve it, then an ecological catastrophe can be avoided.

   The purpose of this work is to get acquainted with the problem of clean water as a global environmental problem. Significant attention will be paid to the causes, environmental consequences and possible solutions to this problem.

   The essence of the problem of clean water

   Among chemical compounds that a person has to deal with in his daily life, water is perhaps the most familiar and at the same time the most strange. Its amazing properties have always attracted the attention of scientists, and in last years In addition, they became an occasion for various near-scientific speculations. Water is not a passive solvent, as is commonly believed, it is an active actor in molecular biology; when it freezes, it expands rather than shrinking like most liquids, reaching its highest density at 4°C. So far, none of the theorists working on general theory liquids, did not come close to describing its strange properties.

   Weak hydrogen bonds deserve special mention, thanks to which water molecules form rather complex structures for a short time. A 2004 Science article by Lars Pettersson and his colleagues at Stockholm University made a lot of noise. In it, in particular, it was stated that each water molecule is connected by hydrogen bonds with exactly two others. Because of this, chains and rings arise, with a length of the order of hundreds of molecules. It is along this path that researchers hope to find a rational explanation for the strangeness of water.

   But for the inhabitants of our planet, water is not primarily interesting for this: without clean drinking water, they will all simply die out, and its availability becomes more and more problematic over the years. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), currently 1.2 billion people do not have it in required quantity, millions of people die every year from diseases caused by substances dissolved in water. In January 2008, at the UN World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008, held in Switzerland, it was argued that by 2025 the population of more than half of the world's countries will lack clean water, and by 2050 - 75%.

   The problem of clean water is coming from all sides: for example, scientists suggest that in the next 30 years, the melting of glaciers (one of the main fresh water reserves on Earth) will lead to strong jumps in the level of many major rivers such as the Brahmaputra, the Ganges, the Yellow River, which will put one and a half billion inhabitants South-East Asia under the threat of shortage of drinking water. At the same time, even now the flow of water, for example, from the Yellow River is so great that it periodically does not reach the sea.

   Scientists all over the world say that the world is experiencing a shortage of fresh water. But how does it work? After all, logically, there is a water cycle in nature, which means, theoretically, the amount of water on the planet does not change.

   However, the problem of fresh water exists. But it doesn't take much to solve it. If every person on the planet adhered to in everyday life simple rules save water, the problem of its shortage would not be so acute. But not only people, but also enterprises should save. Scientists have calculated that over the 20th century, fresh water consumption has increased seven times, while the world's population has only tripled. The reason for this is the rapid growth of the industry. If enterprises used water more economically in production, strictly monitoring leaks and gusts, purifying water as much as possible and returning it back to nature, the problem of water shortage would disappear for at least a hundred years.

   Everyone can make their own contribution to saving water. It doesn't take much effort to do this. Just follow the rules given in this article.

   "Perpetual Motion"

   Water on Earth is unique. After all, only this substance is on our planet simultaneously in its three hypostases: in liquid, solid and gaseous form. Moreover, water is constantly inside the cycle, which is called the "water cycle in nature." Thus, water on Earth is constantly being reused.

   The water cycle in nature looks very simple. The sun heats water in rivers, lakes, oceans, and turns it into steam. Water also evaporates from the soil, tree leaves, and other places. The vapor rises into the air and condenses into clouds. Interestingly, clouds are made up of small water droplets. When these drops become heavy and can no longer be held in the air, they fall to the ground in the form of rain. If at that time the air temperature is minus - then in the form of hail or snow. Rain water saturates the earth, rivers, lakes, seas, oceans and other bodies of water with water. Part of the water seeps under the topsoil and forms the so-called groundwater - aquifers. After that, the cycle of the water cycle begins anew.

   

   How much water is there in the world?

   Scientists estimate that about 75% of the surface of our planet is covered with water. The volume of the World Ocean is 1.3324 billion cubic meters of water. But only 1% of the total water on Earth is available for human use. The rest is either salt water of the seas and oceans, or frozen in polar glaciers, in ice caps of mountains.

   Interestingly, the amount of water on Earth is relatively static. Moreover, in the process of cycling the water is purified. After all, steam evaporates, that is, fresh water without impurities. The question arises: if water from the Earth does not go anywhere, but simply goes through a cycle of circulation and, moreover, is purified at the same time, then why is it less and less? Why is there so much talk about the problem of fresh water scarcity? Why do environmentalists urge to conserve water? The answer is simple - people use fresh water faster than nature can replenish it naturally. Besides, technical progress and the increase in the number of people on Earth leads to an increase in the use of water. It is estimated that water consumption is increasing by seven percent every year. At the same time, fresh water is unevenly distributed on the planet, and for many people it is not just a “convenience”, but a very scarce and necessary substance. Moreover, not only people suffer from the lack of fresh water, but also fish and other animals. They do not have a faucet from which water flows. And the intensive use of water from rivers and other reservoirs leads to a decrease in their level and even drying up.

   help yourself

   By using water wisely, we help nature, and therefore ourselves. If we save water, then we consume less of it and more water remains in wells, rivers or other places where it is extracted for our needs. If we save water, we save energy. After all, the water supplier will need to spend less energy to supply water to our house and to further clean the drains. By reducing the use of hot water, we save twice as much - we do not spend energy on heating it. And needless to say, by saving water, we save, first of all, our money. Which can be spent on other needs.

   Scientists have calculated that the average person in a typical country where water is available uses about 200 liters of water per day. At the same time, for example, in the USA this figure is 280 liters, and in Germany - 140 liters. In megacities, much more water is consumed than in small towns and villages. For example, in Moscow, on average, one person consumes up to 400 liters of water per day. In fact, this is a lot. Especially when you look at how people usually use water.

   For the normal functioning of the body, each person needs to drink about 2-3 liters of fluid per day. But where do the remaining 197 liters go? A person also spends water on going to the toilet, taking a bath and shower, washing clothes, washing hands, washing dishes, cooking, cleaning and other needs. And the water that a person supposedly uses is not actually used. It is spent in the form of various kinds of leaks.

   
   How to save water?

   There are some very simple, but also very effective ways saving water.

   1. Hand washing. It is known that water is essential for washing hands. But during their lathering, water simply flows from the tap and is not used. So that it is not wasted, after you have wet your hands, you must first turn off the water, and then take the soap. But many will object that it is not convenient to unscrew the tap with soapy hands. Possibly, but for convenience, there are also faucets with a lever, as well as faucets with motion detectors that automatically turn off the water if you remove your hands.

   2. Brushing your teeth. If you turn off the water when you brush your teeth, you will save at least 4 liters of water per minute. Given that the process of brushing your teeth takes 2-3 minutes, this is 8-12 liters only at a time! Simple math will help you calculate that if you listen to the advice of your dentist and brush your teeth twice a day, then simply turning off the water during the brushing process will save you at least 16 liters of water per day. In a month it turns out 480 liters of water!

   3. Small trash. We also save water when we don't clog the toilet! It's better to throw paper, insects, hair, and other small debris in the trash instead of down the toilet. In this way, you reduce the load on the wastewater treatment system.

   4. Washing dishes. It's time to join the Clean Plate Society! After all, the cleaner the plate, the less water is spent on washing it. It is also more economical to wash dishes in a dishwasher rather than by hand. Of course, if you use it at full load.

   5. Bathing. Take a bath less often. But when taking a shower, reduce the water pressure. This way you can save up to 1000 liters of water per month!

   6. Leaks and rushes. Check your faucets and pipes for leaks and if there are any, get rid of them. Even through small leaks, up to 300 liters of water per month can be consumed!

   By the way, a small leak in the toilet can cost you about 600 liters of water a month! Therefore, check your toilet for the slightest leaks. They are not always visible, but there is an easy way to spot them. Remove the tank cap and add food coloring to the water. Wait a few minutes. And if the toilet bowl is stained, then there is a leak and it must be eliminated immediately.

   7. Washing. You also need to know how to wash. Make sure your clothes are really dirty before putting them in the laundry basket. Wash only when the machine is fully loaded and, if possible, use economical washing modes.

   8. Watering plants. If you have a garden, orchard, or lawn near your home, don't water it every day. Plants feel good even when watered every 3-5 days. Also, make sure that you water the plants, and not the sidewalk, fence, paths and ... neighbors or passers-by.

   9. Cleaning. The temptation to wash away the dirt from the floor, stairs, porch or terrace just with a strong pressure of water is great. But refrain from it and use a broom or broom, and then rinse with a mop.

   And if you need to wash your car, turn off the water in the hose when you lather the car. So you save over 100 liters of water.

   What's next?

   Scientists all over the world are working on various options on how to use water more efficiently, how to avoid its leakage and reduce waste to zero. So far, most of them tend to in the best possible way save water for domestic needs is the rejection of its centralized supply. In China, Spain, Brazil and some other countries, projects to create private water supply systems are already being implemented. This is expected to cut water consumption by more than half, to 90-120 liters per person per day.

   Some countries that have direct access to the sea or ocean are implementing desalination projects. Water is especially actively desalinated in the countries of the Persian Gulf. At the moment, desalination costs from $2.5 to $4.5 per cubic meter fresh liquid. But environmentalists warn that mass water desalination is not an option. After all, this can lead to a violation of the ecological balance in the seas and oceans.

   Therefore, before turning on the tap, think about it - do you really need to spend water right here and now?

   Without clean water: the main problem of high-water Ukraine

   2313 0

   Over the past 100 years, water consumption in the world has increased several times. And, according to scientists, there is a risk of gradual depletion of the planet's water resources. March 22 - World Water Day - a reminder of this for humanity.

   There are more than 14 thousand rivers in Ukraine / pennsylvaniafrack.com

   The gradual depletion of the planet's water resources has forced the world to seriously attend to this problem. In 1992, at the UN Conference on Environmental Protection in Rio de Janeiro, the idea of ​​holding world day water resources. The very next year, by a special resolution of the UN General Assembly, the date of March 22 was approved as such a day.

   In particular, in the text of the resolution, states were invited to hold events on this day dedicated to the conservation and development of water resources. And, since 1994, UN activities in the field of water protection have been devoted to one specific topic. For example, in 1997 the world was discussing whether there is enough water on the planet, in 2001 it was talking about water resources for health, and the period from 2005 to 2015 was declared by the UN General Assembly as the International Decade for Action “Water for Life”. At the same time, according to experts, by 2030, about half of the world's population may face water shortages.

   Ukraine, which has more than 14 thousand rivers, including medium and small ones, is not threatened yet. However, the situation with water resources, which was formed over a long period and was characterized by neglect of the objective factors of water use, leaves much to be desired. Despite the large number of water bodies, almost all of them are significantly polluted. As a result, the reserves of water resources (river runoff per Ukrainian is about 1.8 thousand cubic meters per year, which is one of the lowest in Europe.

   Dirty industry

   The fact is that the economy of Ukraine is characterized by a high proportion of water-containing and energy-intensive technologies. And their introduction and build-up was carried out in the most "cheap" way - without the construction of appropriate treatment facilities. Now the country's population is reaping the fruits of the structural deformations of the national economy of the past.

   Most topical issue in the field of water use, the deterioration of water quality remains. Thus, according to various estimates, about 10 billion cubic meters of wastewater are annually discharged into the Ukrainian river basins, including 6.5 billion cubic meters of clean and standardly treated wastewater and 3.5 billion cubic meters of polluted ones. Even a rough estimate of the state water accounting data for recent years shows that industrial enterprises about 55% of polluted wastewater was discharged into the water bodies of Ukraine throughout the country. Moreover, the share of public utilities in them is 41%.

   

   Degradation of water quality remains an urgent problem in the field of water use / Photo from UNIAN

   According to the observations of the Central Geophysical Observatory, a particularly difficult situation is observed in the basins of the Dnieper, Seversky Donets, Azov rivers, individual tributaries of the Dniester, the Western Bug, and the northwestern part of the Black Sea. A tense ecological situation has also developed in the Dnieper basin - the main source of the country's water supply (70%), where the largest number of industrial and agricultural industries are concentrated, large industrial centers, nuclear power facilities and irrigation systems are located.

   In addition, the most environmentally hazardous enterprises that affect the pollution of water bodies in Ukraine (before the start of the military conflict in Donbass) are located in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Odessa regions. Actually, at the end of last year, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) stated that more than 1 million residents of eastern Ukraine are facing an acute shortage of clean drinking water. “According to our estimates, about 1.3 million people have limited access to safe drinking water in the conflict-affected areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” the fund noted.

   No clean drinking water

   At the same time, there is, in fact, no clean drinking water in other regions of Ukraine. The Central Geophysical Observatory divides the state of external surface waters into four categories. Basically, the quality of water resources attracted for use by sectors of the economy corresponds to classes 2 and 3, but sometimes even 4. “Category 4 points are located on the most polluted sections of the rivers,” experts explain.

   And this directly affects the quality of drinking water. The water bodies of Ukraine contain oil products, sulfates, nitrates, phenols, nitrogen and heavy metal compounds, biogenic and organic matter and so on. “Currently, in almost all surface water bodies in Ukraine, and in some regions - in groundwater, the level of pollution has increased. A significant part of groundwater reserves have lost their importance as sources of drinking water. Unfortunately, such a situation in Ukraine has developed due to neglect for a long period of time of the laws of development and reproduction of water resource potential,” the Deputy Minister of Ecology and natural resources Ukraine Svetlana Kolomiets.

   In addition, according to her, over the past decade, the efficiency of almost all treatment facilities has significantly decreased, due to depreciation of equipment. “Besides this, a very active and uncontrollable economic activity catchment areas of rivers, associated with the development of lands of the water fund, even in coastal protective strips and zones. The trouble is that a significant number of water users use water resources without special permits for subsoil use and special water use. Therefore, today the self-healing capacity of water resource sources in Ukraine is no longer enough to overcome the negative impacts and reproduce the ecological balance. 45% (according to the Ministry of Health) of the population of Ukraine consume water that does not meet state standards“, she states.

   

   The main problem with the water complex of Ukraine is the lack of proper control / kp.ua

   “In Ukraine, there are practically no sources of water supply of the 1st category of quality,” says Tatyana Tymochko, head of the All-Ukrainian Ecological League. “Practically all water bodies, in terms of pollution level, approached the 3rd category.”

   “Even if everything is done well at the treatment facilities for a lot of money, we still will not be able to change all the water pipes. But when it gets there, clean water turns back into dirty water,” emphasizes Maksim Tkachenko, an activist of the Ecodnepr movement.

   The co-chairman of the Association of Greens of Ukraine, ecologist Yaroslaa Zadesents, agrees with him, according to which, even after a long multi-level system of filtration and purification, water in Ukraine can be used mainly as technical water. Since even after cleaning, according to sanitary and chemical indicators, the water does not quite meet the standards.

   Needed Reform

   Thus, with an imperfect wastewater treatment system, lack of environmental pollution control by enterprises located, including in the zone of armed conflict, pollution of the country's main waterways, getting first-class quality water in Ukraine is something of a fantasy.

   “The main problem with the water complex of Ukraine is the lack of proper control over the state of water bodies,” Svetlana Kolomiets notes.

   However, according to her, Ukraine has already begun a reform in this area: "The priority of this reform is the transition to the basin principle of water management."

   This approach assumes that the main unit of management should be the territory of the river basin. “This will create a financial mechanism that will guarantee a direct link between the payment for water use and the financing of priority water protection measures within the basin,” she said.

   The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources predicts that this will gradually reduce pollution of surface and groundwater, reduce risks emergencies, recreate ecosystems and improve the health of the population living in the basin. But this is not a one year story.

   Tatiana Stezhar

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